It was this past Monday and I didn’t have the Monday blues because it’s summer break and I’m a high school teacher. I was sitting on a sunlit bench on Chestnut street and opened up to page 21 of Leaf Storm and started reading. As I read, I noticed a young lady sitting at the nearby table with her laptop and earbuds in and thought to myself about the loss of life, living, and religion in today’s society. It was the way she sat as though her purpose and her living came from her work. But the thought was also inspired by my own healing journey and how it can easily take me away from Christ. Her and I both were focused on getting life from that which can not give real life. (Now I don’t know what the young lady was thinking but you catch my drift)

Most of us know and realize that we are overworked, inundated with technology and social media, and disconnected from ourselves. There is a current widespread movement within and without the Christian community in support of inner healing. This movement is needed within the Christian faith, for it is in connection with what Christ did and is in harmony with what the Holy Spirit does within the surrendered believer. For the non-Christian the benefits of inner healing are peace and happiness. For Christians, the result is sanctification and Christ-likeness. 

But even this movement of inner-healing, if handled faithlessly and recklessly, can lead to actual death.  

I am on my own healing journey where I am looking closely at my childhood trauma and allowing my mind, heart, and soul to grieve and reset. The results are amazing some days. Some days I feel so free! I realize, “oh, I’m not crazy–I’m traumatized!” I’ve spent days doing activities like being in nature, drawing, walking, going to dance classes and these things make me happy. They are completely different from how I used to live as a Christian when I thought life was supposed to be all self denial and drudgery. 

But then it dawned on me that non-Christians have access to this same kind of healing through shadow work, therapy, meditation, and even witchcraft. I wondered to myself, why would anyone want to follow Jesus if they are healed from trauma? I had a moment where I asked myself, “since I’m healing do I still want to follow Jesus?” 

See, my emotional pain and dissatisfaction are what drove me to Christ and now that I am on this journey of inner healing what are my reasons for remaining with him? Is healing from my pain and suffering the only reason for me to follow Jesus? What would make someone else want to follow Jesus if they’re already healed or healing by other means? 

Then the Lord reminded me of what Jesus says in John 6:26

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

John 6:26

On this side of life, we can experience a healing and a happiness that is devoid of Christ but it is not an eternal healing and it is not blessed.

 I say this specifically to any of us who want healing for healing’s sake (Christian and Non-Christian). We are similar to the people who only wanted Jesus to feed them. We recognize the benefits of healing but we don’t understand the miraculous signs. Healing does not equal eternal life and the world does not and can not properly define or provide eternal life. 

God’s word says the following about eternal life:

• “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63
• “And this is the way to have eternal life–to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” John 17:3

This is especially important for my generation as we are on the frontier of inner-work, healing, and breaking generational curses. Let us not make these things into idols for when they turn into idols they are no longer life-giving but lead to a loss of life and living. 

Without listening to Jesus, our healing is pointless for he has the words that are spirit and life. His words give vitality, vigor, and produce godliness. You can be healed from trauma and still be steeped in sin if that healing does not lead you to Christ. Without knowing the one true God, through His written word and His living Word, your healing will not give you access to eternal life. 

I’m happy for us and concerned at the same time. With all the access we have to methods of healing, will we lose our desire for religion? I’m not speaking of dead religion but of the worship and reverence of the Creator and Giver of Life? Will we cease to seek Him since we have access to ways to give life to ourselves?

So let us heal, but let us mimic the heart and attitude of the Samaritan leper:

As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

Luke 17:11-19

The lepers received the healing they desired; their satisfaction and their wounds were fulfilled. But only the Samaritan leper praised, worshiped, and thanked God. Only he received affirmation of his faith from Jesus. Only he pleased God because of his faith! 

So yes, let us heal, but let us be faithful in the process. Let us not become idolaters as we seek wholeness. Let us seek holy wholeness.